View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by PubMed Central Available online http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/11/5/209 Review Key signalling nodes in mammary gland development and cancer Mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling in experimental models of breast cancer progression and in mammary gland development Jacqueline Whyte1, Orla Bergin2, Alessandro Bianchi2, Sara McNally2 and Finian Martin2 1Current address: Physiology and Medical Physics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland 2UCD Conway Institute and School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland Corresponding author: Finian Martin,
[email protected] Published: 29 September 2009 Breast Cancer Research 2009, 11:209 (doi:10.1186/bcr2361) This article is online at http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/11/5/209 © 2009 BioMed Central Ltd Abstract pathway, in particular, has been implicated as being Seven classes of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) important [3]. Signalling through each pathway involves intracellular signalling cascades exist, four of which are implicated sequential activation of a MAPK kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a in breast disease and function in mammary epithelial cells. These MAPK kinase (MAPKK) and the MAPK. Considering the are the extracellular regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 pathway, the ERK5 ERK1/2 pathway, the primary input activator is activated Ras, pathway, the p38 pathway and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) a small GTPase. It activates Raf1 (MAPKKK), which then pathway. In some forms of human breast cancer and in many phosphorylates and activates MEK1/2 (MAPKK), which finally experimental models of breast cancer progression, signalling through the ERK1/2 pathway, in particular, has been implicated as activates ERK1/2 [1].